Aeon Zen

Aeon Zen
Background information
Origin	Cambridge, England
Genres	Progressive metal
Years active	2008-present
Labels	Time Divide Records, Nightmare Records
Associated acts	Above Symmetry, Annihilator, Atle Pettersen, Circus Maximus, DragonForce, Eumeria, Frost*, Lost in Thought, Myrath, Pagan's Mind, Seventh Wonder
Members	Rich Hinks Andi Kravljaca Alistair Bell Steve Burton Tom Green
Past members	Lloyd Musto Shaz

Aeon Zen are a progressive metal band formed in 2008, led by founding member Rich Hinks. To date, they have been praised and heavily featured in the international music press, labelled by Classic Rock Magazine as 'a strong contender for best newcomer at the very, very least' and, additionally, as Progression Magazine’s selection for "debut album of the year".

To date, the band has released four studio albums, and have assembled a line-up for live performances. Their first and second albums, entitled A Mind's Portrait and The Face of the Unknown respectively, were released through Time Divide Records on 1 May 2009 and 12 October 2010. These were followed by Enigma, released through Nightmare Records on 22 January 2013, and "Ephemera", released on 1 September 2014.

Aeon Zen was founded in 2008 when Rich Hinks and Lloyd Musto decided to form a new studio project. Unlike their previous bands, such as Timefall, which had a one-to-one correlation of members and instruments, Aeon Zen consisted of just the two members, with Musto playing drums and Hinks on all other instruments and production. Vocal duties were, on their debut album, shared amongst guests. According to the band, the name Aeon Zen was chosen to portray an "eternal state of bliss and enlightenment", although the use of Aeon as an adjective is a non-standard construction.

Writing and recording for their first album started in late 2008 and took roughly 2 months to complete, with both writing and recording occurring simultaneously. Several of the songs on A Mind's Portrait were written several weeks before the album was released, with Hinks composing the majority of the material.

Following the completion of the album, the band was signed to the record label Time Divide Records Ltd. in November 2008. This signing, and subsequent likelihood of an album release, helped in the conscription of the necessary guest vocalists such as Nils K. Rue of Pagan's Mind and Andi Kravljaca of Silent Call (ex Seventh Wonder), among others. The album was finally released on 1 May 2009. Artwork for the album was designed by Mattias Norén, who had previously undertaken work for groups such as Outworld, Evergrey and Into Eternity, among others.

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